I wrestled Emerald to the ground, and tried not to seriously hurt her. She slapped me across the cheek and I suddenly felt weakened. She rolled me to the ground, and I kicked her in the stomach. The team was so surprised by her sudden attack that they hadn't done anything so far, and now it was too late. They were wrapped in vines, even Batman, and as much as they tried, no one could use their powers. Batman and Robin's belts had been taken away and were resting a couple of feet away from them, but it was far enough that as much as they tried they still couldn't reach.
Now her black hair whipped at my face as she took her knife and raised it above her head. My eyes widened beneath my glasses, and just as she stabbed down I moved my head a little to the left. The knife barely missed my skull. She seemed kind of confused by the dodge, and she froze for a second, but it was enough. I flipped her up and onto her back behind my head and I jumped onto my feet. I began to start a small fire to burn the way out for the team. Something hard smacked my back and the force threw me into the hallway. I felt my mouth bleeding, and my back was sore, but I wasn't done yet. Emerald's eyes were glowing- and not orange, they were green. The rays were nearly breaking the darkness of the sunglasses she wore, and in her rage she threw them off. She screamed and began a dash towards me. In her I saw that little girl- trapped in another body. A controlled body... I heard myself gasp.
Instead of jumping away from Emerald, I grabbed her as she reached for my neck. I threw her against the wall and grasped her wrists tightly. "You don't have to do this!" I yelled frantically. "You're not you!"
The glow began to dim, and her eyes began to show. They were an orange-y red, with a crazy shine that was obviously not something she had had before. This was what her eyes looked like when someone was controlling her mind. She gave a sneer, and her white teeth gleamed. "What would you know?" she asked. Her voice was rough and like a growl. She continued, "You gave him up. You'd barely started with him, and you gave it up. You could've had everything."
Mind games. Damn myself for being so smart. I looked her in the eyes. "Maybe everything- but not family. Not friends. I wouldn't have the most important things in life. Think about it- does he really care?"
The red in her eyes began to fade to purple, a sign he was loosing control. I kept going, "He wouldn't. He doesn't! You're alone- it's not like him to make another clone to help with you. He'd never allow a pet, or a friend, and he'd never sympathize. All you have is a stuffed animal, and it's a surprise that he even allows that. Do you want to be like this forever? Because that's what going to happen to you! Emerald, if he really cared, you'd be sitting at your 'home' resting and he'd be here fighting, or taking care of your wounds, or making you feel like a real person! I don't think he even named you- I think you named yourself, and you only chose Kaylee because that's all you could think of." The purple began to fade to blue, and her hair began to shorten. She began to turn skinny again. She was looking like her normal, not-trying-to-kill-me self. The team had gotten loose when she'd began to control herself, and was watching with expressions of confusion, approval, and fear. Even Batman looked somewhat surprised- for him. Emerald looked at me with more blue than violet eyes, and I knew it wasn't over yet. But I couldn't fight the rest of the battle, and I knew she wouldn't start it. So I sparked it for her.
"You could have friends, you know. And family. We'd care."
Kaylee drew in a sharp breath. She fell to her hands and knees, and I could tell she had started the war between her control and Slade's. She was almost twitching- it scared me a little. She'll be fine, I told myself. Don't forget- she's you.
It looked like she was ripping her hair out- she was clawing at her head and her mouth was unleashing inaudible screams. So either I was deaf or she wasn't actually screaming. And I know I wasn't deaf. But the one thing I did hear was a single sentence-
"Get out of my HEAD!"
Finally the small body collapsed against the stones, and I knew it was over. The only way to find out who had won, however, was the color of her eyes. I waited cautiously as Kaylee picked herself off the ground and fluttered her eyelids open. Blue. A pure sapphire blue. I relaxed and embraced the girl in a hug. She curled up into me happily. "It's over," she whispered. "It's done."
I pushed her away. "Not yet it's not." She looked at me curiously, and I felt the rest of the team's eyes on my back. "You need to find your true self."
I grasped her hands, and she grasped mine. We locked eyes, even with mine hidden, and something inside her began to glow. I had delved into her mind to find who she really was, because this girl was not a good clone, and she deserved to be another person.
I used her powers and my own to change her into a better kind of outfit. Her hair turned an auburn red and was shortened to a young bob. She shrunk to the size of an eight year old, and her figure filled out a bit more. Her outfit changed to a green jack, reddish-pink shirt, and a pair of blue shorts. She didn't have any shoes. And her eyes turned green- emerald green, to be exact.
Kaylee smiled at me. "I'm not going to join," she said. I laughed. "I don't think someone would let you." She giggled- a sweet, innocent child's giggle. "But I do want to, ya know, fight crime and stuff. On my own- if that's okay?" Directing this last question towards Batman, she nearly squealed with delight when he gave a nod. She threw her arms around me as a goodbye. "I'll see you again?"
"Come by any time." I walked with her to the zeta tube. When she entered, the computer couldn't recognize her, so I set up a new designation sequence.
"Recognized- Emerald. B09."